With less than two weeks to go until the end of the season, Macc Town manager Gary Simpson has already begun work on his squad for the next campaign.

Simmo and his predecessor Keith Alexander made major changes to the playing staff last summer and, with all but five of the current crop out of contract at the end of June, he now faces a battle to keep hold of some of his top performers.

Ahead of Macc’s Cheshire Premier Cup final against Crewe on Tuesday night, the manager revealed that he has opened discussions with seven players so far, with many more – hopefully productive – conversations planned next week.

"Drapes has shown a lot of potential," said Simpson. "And I’m delighted that we’ve been able to get him to stay.

"I’m pushing a few for answers now, just because we need to know where we stand. Some of the younger lads haven’t been on a lot of money and we want to address that.

"That’s perhaps been more of a priority than some who are over 24 and can just walk away no matter what."

One thing Simpson is steadfast on is that – unlike a host of clubs in recent years – he won’t risk the Silkmen’s future by putting outlandish deals on the table for anyone.

"The ones with the most money get first say," he conceded. "We’ll pay out what we can but I’m a big believer that you pay out what you can afford and no more. The economic climate meant that, once we’d set our budget, the rug got pulled out a bit from under us and we had to gamble on a few more unknowns to put a team together.

"Our big thing is that we can offer players opportunities, and these players may prefer to stay here rather than go somewhere else for a bit more money and not get a game. This is a properly-run club with people in charge who care about it.

"For a lot of these players it’s been their first year of playing regularly and I would hope that some will want to stay because they enjoy being here, and we have put some good deals together.

"I can only be honest and tell them what we can afford and I hope we can keep the majority of this bunch."

Simpson admits he is being inundated with calls from agents, for a host of reasons and says that, when he flies off for a well-deserved break in Bulgaria, he expects his phone will still be buzzing.

But until then he will be hoping his 2010/11 squad will be well on the way to completion.

"Some of these lads have been given the opportunity to get their careers going," he added. "And I hope many will want to stay."